VA Secretary Shinseki says switch to EMR claims system will speed up processing
New Department of Veterans Affairs Secretary Eric K. Shinseki wants to have a paperless, electronic disability claims system to provide faster claims processing to veterans by 2012. Shinseki, who became VA secretary in late January, notes that an electronic system will help reduce the backlog of cases that typically involve paper stacks “going halfway to the ceiling.” In the meantime, the department is hiring 1,100 more staff to help speed up processing. Shinseki said he also wants to put together a new, timely budget for the department and continue its successful efforts on treating post-traumatic distress syndrome. Veterans Affairs prevented more than 700 suicides among veterans in 2008. “The privilege of leading the VA is a noble calling,” Shinseki said. “I look at it as an opportunity to give back to our veterans.” http://veterans.house.gov/news/PRArticle.aspx?NewsID=336

IBM, Google and Continua Health unveil PHR data transport software
IBM, Google and Continua Health Alliance are partnering on software that enables personal patient monitoring medical devices to automatically send medical data to a personal health record account, allowing doctors to easily view medical records and easily keep them up to date. The IBM software works primarily with a patient’s Google Health Account but can be used with other platforms, according to Dan Pelino, General Manager of IBM Healthcare & Life Sciences industry. He notes that the product can improve the ability of patients to keep in touch with physicians about medical problems, no matter where either party may be. “Open standards-based systems and technologies – freely available to anyone interested in using them – are key to fueling development of systems that can share and exchange vital healthcare information on a timely basis, whenever and wherever it’s needed,” Pelino said. http://www-03.ibm.com/press/us/...

UnitedHealth to issue machine-readable patient ID cards by end of year
UnitedHealth Group plans to issue nearly 25 million machine-readable patient identification cards by the end of 2009. If successful, UHG will be the first American company to adopt the new national standards for swipe-card technology across all of its health plans. New national standards from the federal Workgroup for Electronic Data Interchange require health ID cards to have a magnetic stripe that can be read through a standard card-reader machine, and also be designed with a standard layout to increase readability and be compliant with the National Council for Prescription Programs, according to David Wichmann, President of UnitedHealth Group Operations. The new cards will allow confirmation of the plan participant’s benefits eligibility and coverage information, grant access to the patient’s personal health record with updated medical history information, and allow physicians to submit UnitedHealthcare claims online and receive a response in seconds. http://www.unitedhealthgroup.com/newsroom/...

European hospitals to gain access to cross-border health records system
Full interoperability of a Europe-wide health records system has moved a step closer with the announcement that service providers TEN4Health and NetC@rds have developed a network that links continental hospitals and other healthcare providers with health insurance organizations and national healthcare IT infrastructures. The new service helps ensure that any European citizen requiring healthcare in another European country can be easily cared for, according to Pascal Collotte, project officer at the European Commission DG Information Society and Media overseeing the program. Doctors will also be more easily reimbursed. “With this agreement, we are paving the way for a European standard supporting the necessary communication and data exchange processes for cross-border healthcare in Europe,” Collotte said. No timeline has been given for implementation. http://www.ehealthnews.eu/content/view/1478/27/

Institute of Medicine calls HIPAA Privacy Rule inadequate, recommends updates
The Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act (HIPAA) Privacy Rule does not adequately protect the privacy of people’s personal health information and hinders important health research discoveries, according to a new report from the Institute of Medicine. The report “Beyond the HIPAA Privacy Rule” calls for “development of an entirely new approach” to protecting personal health information in research, one that is separate from the HIPAA Privacy Rule. The new approach “should apply privacy, data security, and accountability standards uniformly to information used in all health-related research regardless of who funds or conducts the research.” If policymakers decide to continue using the current rule, the report recommends updates to improve the law, and additional guidance to help the Department of Health and Human Services comply with the changes. http://www8.nationalacademies.org/...

Tough economy helps drive funding for telemedicine in Philippines’ 2009 budget
The Philippine government has allocated $2.1 million [USD] in its 2009 National Budget toward telemedicine as a result of the successful deployment of the National TeleHealth Center’s telehealth program last year. According to Sen. Edgardo J. Angara, telemedicine has proven very useful in keeping healthcare costs down at a time when money is tight for everyone. “Our mission to provide quality healthcare during these tough times of crisis hinges on our capability to innovate and stretch every peso we can get for the health sector,” Angara said. “The importance of innovation for better healthcare is stressed by the fact that we are willing to spend on these innovations and we are willing to deliver these to the public for their betterment.” The senator called the funds appropriation “very timely.” http://www.senate.gov.ph/press...

Economic stimulus bill could help make health IT a standard in doctors’ offices
Nearly 70 percent of hospitals and 90 percent of doctors could be using health information technology by 2019 as a result of incentives in the current economic stimulus bill, according to a report by the Congressional Budget Office. If so, the increase would be a significant jump from current levels, where only about 2 percent of doctors are enrolled in an electronic health IT records program. The economic stimulus bill (H.R. 1), the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009, passed last month by the House and currently under review by the Senate, would provide Medicare bonus payments to healthcare providers who adopt and use certified IT systems by 2011. By 2016, Medicare would reduce payment rates to providers who do not use such systems. Without the stimulus bill, CBO estimates that 45 percent of hospitals and 65 percent of physicians will adopt the program by 2019. http://www.cbo.gov/ftpdocs/99xx/doc9977/hr1senate.pdf

Electronic medical record databases found to be as effective as clinical trials
Patient data, as captured by electronic medical record (EMR) databases, can obtain information as effectively as randomized clinical trials, according to a report by researchers at the University of Pennsylvania School of Medicine (UPSM). For years, critics have argued that randomized trials are the only way to get an accurate assessment of a medical situation. Databases, they said, contain observational information and thus lack the level of control of trials. But Richard Tannen, M.D., Professor of Medicine at UPSM, says he and his group recognized that the large EMR databases already in existence could give researchers the ability to study an entire population. “Our study cautiously, yet strongly, suggests that enormous amounts of information within electronic medical records can be used to expand evidence of how we should or shouldn’t manage healthcare,” Tannen said. http://www.uphs.upenn.edu/news/...

Dutch homes with ultra-high-speed broadband to top 100,000 by year’s end
The Netherlands has moved to the second stage in its efforts to extend ultra high-speed broadband to all residents in Amsterdam, with an additional 57,000 being wired by the end of 2009. That would mean 100,000 homes are equipped with next-generation broadband service by year’s end, according to city officials. The city of Amsterdam first approved the point-to-point fiber-to-the-home network in January 2006. Local politicians have since touted the importance of going ultra-fast with broadband. Standard broadband is 1 megabit per second (Mbps) to 10 Mbps per second; ultra-fast tops 100 Mbps. “Fast networks are important for the future of the city of Amsterdam,” city Alderman Maarten Van Poelgeest said. “We want our citizens to be offered the best in telecare, e-Health, distance learning and teleworking.”   http://www.lightreading.com/document.asp?doc_id=171662

Vermont health department launches state prescription drug monitoring system
The Vermont Department of Health has launched a statewide prescription drug monitoring system (VPMS) to track the prescribing and dispensing of controlled substances. According to state Health Commissioner Wendy Davis, M.D., VPMS will help identify patients who may need treatment for drug abuse or addiction. “The system will improve the ability of healthcare providers to treat patients by providing a more complete record of their treatment, especially for patients who may have more than one healthcare provider,” Davis said. A prescriber will be able to query information in the database only on patients they are treating. Only licensed healthcare providers and pharmacists who are registered with the U.S. Drug Enforcement Agency will have access to the database. Pharmacies must report their dispensed controlled substance data at least every seven days. Since Jan. 12, more than 328,000 records have been uploaded into the system. http://healthvermont.gov/news/...

Aerotel, GEBOA to begin marketing personal monitoring device in Switzerland
Mobile and home-based telemedicine systems maker Aerotel Medical Systems Inc. and mobile security device manufacturer GEBOA SA will market the two companies’ new personal monitoring system in Switzerland under the brand name AlarmTouch^TM GPS. The GPS-based personal telecare safety device, intended for seniors, children and lone workers, will be distributed in Switzerland by GEBOA. The unit activates a warning signal or initiates a voice call in case of need, identifying the caller’s location and enabling him or her to get immediate assistance, according to Ofer Atzmon, Vice President for Business Development at Aerotel Medical Systems. It will be available in phone outlets and through some response centers across the country. The companies plan to introduce the products in France as well as in other markets in Europe, according to GENOA Chief Executive Officer Dr. Georges Bongi. http://www.aerotel.com/en/news/press-releases/...

Honeywell HomMed, VNA First strike information access agreement
Through a partnership agreement, Brookfield, WI-based Honeywell HomMed has acquired exclusive access to home healthcare provider VNA First’s entire library of clinical pathway tools for telehealth, the companies announced. Naperville, IL-based VNA First’s disease-specific content provides proactive, preventive steps and interventions that comply with all current industry standards and will help Honeywell HomMed lead with home healthcare standardization, and enhance patient and financial outcome, according to Mike Benjamin, President of Honeywell HomMed. The library will be used with the company’s LifeStream ^TM Remote Patient Care System. http://media.americantelemed.org/news/...